What happens next?

Step 2: Applying

Once we have received a completed application, the following steps occur.

  1. We process your application.
  2. We send you a welcome letter by post confirming your personal details and choices.
  3. Your chosen universities and colleges can view your application.
  4. The universities and colleges decide whether to make you an offer or not.

1. When we receive your completed application, we begin to process the details. If we have to query anything, we will contact you to find out more information.

Studying the screen

2. After processing your application, we will send you a welcome letter that lists your choices. Please check the information carefully and let us know immediately if anything is not correct by contacting our Customer Service Unit. If you haven't received your letter within 14 days from sending your application to us, please contact our Customer Service Unit.

You can view your application in Track using your Personal ID and the same username and password you used to apply. Your username is printed on your welcome letter.

3. Once your application is processed, universities and colleges can access it online. They can view your application, but they will not see where else you have applied. They will only see any other choices after you have replied to your offers. Universities and colleges may contact you to tell you that they are considering your application. Not all of them do this, so don't worry if you don't hear from some of your choices.

4. The universities and colleges will consider your application against their own admissions criteria. Each has their own criteria and their own ways of working, so you can expect to hear from them at different times: you may be contacted within a very short period of time or it may be some months before you hear anything. They will decide whether to offer you a place or not and will send their decision to us. Decisions will be displayed in Track as soon as we receive them. More about offers

Letters from UCAS

As you go through the application cycle, you will receive standard letters depending on the status of your choices, decisions and replies.

  • Welcome letter (AS2) - sent to you when we receive your application. You'll also be sent a copy of the Applicant Welcome Guide.
  • Offer letter (AS3) - sent to you when a university or college makes you an offer.
  • Unsuccessful letter (AS4) - sent to you when your application to a university or college has been unsuccessful.
  • Replying to Offers letter (AS6) - sent to you when you have received decisions from all your choices and have received at least one offer. It asks you to reply to your offer(s) by a given date.
  • Status Check letter (AS9) - sent to confirm that we have recorded your replies correctly.
  • Confirmation letter (AS12) - sent to you if you firmly accept an unconditional offer, or if your place has been confirmed by your university or college once exam results are published.
  • New Options letter (AS13) - sent to you with information about other options available if your place has not been confirmed.
 

If you've provided a verified email address, the AS3, AS4 and AS6 letters will be available online in Track instead of sent in the post.